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The Schuyler Mansion 
AT Albany 

RESIDENCE OF 

Major-general Philip Schuyler 

1762-1804 



The Schuyler Mansion 
AT Albany 

1762-1804 




From the Trumbull portrait enlarged by Lazarus. 



Major-general PHILIP SCIiUYLER 
1-733-1804 



The Schuyler Mansion 
AT Albany 



RESIDENCE OF 
MAJOK-GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLEK 

1762-1804 



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BY 

The Spirit of '76 



THE DEVINNE PRESS 
395 LAFAYETTE STREET NEW YORK 

1911 






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CONTENTS 



PAOR 



I The Pastures 3 

II The Building of the House 5 

III The Guests of the House 9 

IV The Master of the House 13 

V The Mistress of the House 17 

VI Burgoyne's Campaign 24 

VII After the Surrender 30 

VIII The Historic Staircase 33 

IX Hamilton 36 

X Washington 41 



THE SCHUYLER MANSION 
AT ALBANY 



** I care not what others ma^ do; as for me 
and my house, we will serve our country, " 

Schuyler, 1775. 



THE SCHUYLER MANSION 
AT ALBANY 



THE PASTURES 

Built 1761-1762 

It was a pleasing sight that met the eye of Philip Schuyler, as 
he approached Albany in the packet sloop that brought him 
from New York, upon his return from England, in 1762. A large, 
new house of yellow brick, substantially built, stood on the slope 
above the high river bank, about half a mile south of the city. It 
commanded a fine view of the Hudson, beautiful in those old days 
with its green shores sloping to the water's edge, its willow 
fringed islands lying out in the stream. Promontories crowned 
with noble trees extended into the water ; on the pebbly beaches 
adjoining them the tides plashed and rippled, and in every direc- 
tion the white sails of the passing boats gave life and animation 
to the scene. 

The house, named ' ' The Pastures, ' ' has been described as " a 
landmark for many years, until the town grew up about it;— a 
hospitable house, for which travelers looked as they ascended the 
river, and which still stands in perfect preservation, as a testi- 
mony to the architectural taste and good workmanship of the 
time."^ 

Philip Schuyler had passed his early married life in his 
father's house, in Albany, on North Pearl Street, where he was 
born, although making frequent visits to his ''Aunt Schuyler's" 

1 In the preparation of this pamphlet, the ' ' Life of General Philip Schuyler ' ' 
(1903), by Bayard Tuckerman, with the very kind permission of the author, has been 
extensively used. 



house at *'The Flatts." But now, for the first time, he was to 
have a home of his own, and one can fancy the emotion and the 
happiness that filled his heart at the prospect of being welcomed 
to it by his wife and his little children, after an absence of nearly 
two years, and a perilous voyage across the Atlantic— the packet 
in which he sailed having been captured by a French privateer 
and recaptured by a British frigate. 

The house had been built during his absence in England by his 
wife, assisted and advised by their old friend. General John 
Bradstreet, Schuyler's commanding officer in the "Old French 
War," his colleague in extensive land purchases, and, notwith- 
standing the twenty-one years between them, his warm personal 
friend. In 1760, Bradstreet, anxious as to unsettled accounts 
with the English government covering several years, in poor 
health, and ordered to join Amherst's expedition to the western 
part of the province, turned to his young friend to help him. ' * I 
can't leave my public accounts and papers in a more faithful 
hand than yours to be settled, should any accident happen to me 
in this campaign, ' ' he writes to Schuyler. To show how this feel- 
ing was reciprocated, Schuyler gave Bradstreet a power of attor- 
ney to manage and dispose of his property, the paper being exe- 
cuted just before he sailed for England from New York, in 
February, 1761. The accounts were successfully settled in Lon- 
don, and the young American was complimented by the War 
Office on their business-like presentation. After seeing many 
objects of interest in England he returned home— to wife and 
children and the new house. 




*lj «i 



.2 ^ - 



II 

THE BUILDING OF THE HOUSE 

The building of the house had been contemplated by Schuyler 
for some time, and work upon it was begun shortly after he 
had sailed. It was a propitious time for building, as a number of 
carpenters had been attracted to Albany by the war and, being 
idle for the time, Colonel Bradstreet advised Mrs. Schuyler to 
make use of them. Although the names of Colonel Bradstreet 
and of Nicholas and William Bayard, friends and kinsmen of her 
husband, appear alone in the business transactions, Mrs. Schuy- 
ler undoubtedly assumed that share of the supervision and plan- 
ning which an efficient woman is apt to give her new home. Born 
at the ' ' Crailo, ' ' or Lower Manor House of her father, John Van 
Rensselaer, and familiar with other spacious houses of her fam- 
ily connection, she well knew the requirements of large establish- 
ments and made her plans accordingly. 

The accounts of the mechanics, preserved in General Schuy- 
ler's papers, give dates and details. Many of them are endorsed 
in his handwriting : ' ' The work performed in 1761 whilst I was in 
England." The bills are made out to Colonel Bradstreet or 
Nicholas Bayard ''for work done at Captain Schuyler's house at 
Albany." A paper of General Schuyler's, "extracted from my 
book, August 25, 1788," is headed, "Money paid by Colonel Brad- 
street, late General Bradstreet, for building Philip Schuyler's 
house in 1761 and 1762." It makes a total of £1425, 16s., Od. Of 
this there is paid to John Gaborial, master carpenter, £453, 12s., 
6d. ; to William Waldron, master mason, £412, 13s., Od. ; to John 
Brown and his workmen, £321, Os., Od. Lucas Hooghmerk, mas- 
ter brickmaker, has £206, 18s., 6d. ; Gerret Hallenbeck, mason, 
£11, 12s., Od. ; Barnes and Savage, carpenters, £20, Os., Od.^ 

John Gaborial, evidently of French extraction, writes a busi- 
ness-like paper in an excellent, clear, round hand. He gives the 

1 These figures represent less than one-half of their value in pounds sterling. 

5 



account of his own time, as "running from May 17, 1761, to 
December 18, 1762. ' ' Also ' * a compte of men 's time for the year 
1762 employed at Captain Schuyler's house in Albany, from the 
day of their antranse to the day of their descharge." This last 
runs only from February 14 to September 18, 1762. Freight 
of staves posted from Boston to New York is 8 shillings. The 
"Turner's work and wood, £20, 8s., 6d.," and he concludes, in his 
handsome handwriting: "Received the sum above mentioned, 
John Gaborial." Another bill is "Coll. Broadstreet (so the old 
Albanians pronounced the name) to West Banta, Dr., per order of 
Mr. Nicholas Bayard, for work done at the house of Capt. Schuyler 
at Albany. ' ' Here we have : " To making 1 large door frame and 
panel door, 15 sash frames, 7 pair outside shutters and 34 
sashes." The men are paid 8s., 6d.-7s., 6d. per day. Credit is 
given for 60 planks at 2s., 6d., and 33 inch planks at Is., 6d. 

Another bill, from Andrew Gautier, dated 1761, is for "work 
done at New York for the new house of Capt. Philip Schuyler at 
Albany by order of Mr. Nicholas Bayard, Esq. " This comprises 
among many other items: "one door frame, fifteen sash frames, 
and eight pair of outside shutters and thirty sashes, all of the 
largest size," many days of work by his men, at 8s., 6d. ("my 
Prentiss" has 6s., 6d.), painting, nails, glue and cartage. Credit 
is given Cornelius Switt and Captain Schuyler for planks and 
inch boards. The total amount paid is £53, 14s., 9d. 

Houses are slow in their completion, and one is not surprised 
to find, as late as June, 1767, a correspondence relating to "Mar- 
ble chimney pieces for Mr. Schuyler, " ' ' 4 marble chimney pieces 
with hearths, £42, 14s, Od," sent by David Chambers by sailing 
vessel from Philadelphia to Albany. 

There are many printed, detailed descriptions of the interior 
and exterior of the mansion. From one of these, published in 
1884,^ we gather that the house is about sixty feet square. The 
contour of the roof is of the "double hip pattern" pierced by 
small dormers and square chimneys. Balustrades are carried 
about the roof and across the dormers. A row of seven large 
windows, with panes of glass unusually generous for those days, 
pierces the front wall. 

1 See article, ' * Historic Homes, ' ' by Frederick G. Mather in * ' Magazine of Ameri- 
can History, ' ' July, 1884. 

6 



A hexagonal, of later date than the house, forms a vestibule 
through which one enters the house from the east, as its main 
entrance. This extends beyond what was doubtless the original 
front-door of the mansion. 

The main hall, entered from the vestibule, is thirty feet long by 
twenty wide, and twelve feet high. A panelled wainscoting of 
wood, painted white, conforms with the carved wooden cornices. 
At the west end of the main hall, directly opposite the entrance, 
a fine old Colonial door with fan and side-lights makes an attrac- 
tive feature. It leads to the back hall, and to the historic staircase, 
with its white balusters and dark railing, where the Tomahawk 
mark is shown. '*The Schuyler staircase, aside from its his- 
tory, is well worth examining. The balusters are of three dif- 
ferent designs, which are repeated in the same order at every 
step. All are carved by hand in a different rope pattern. This 
same design may be found in the staircase of the old Lee house at 
Marblehead, in a house in Salem, Massachusetts, and in one of 
the great mansions of the South."* 

From the main hall there opens, to the right of the entrance 
door, a large north-east corner room. Directly opposite, on the 
other side of the hall, is the drawing-room, where Hamilton and 
Elizabeth Schuyler were married. It has four deeply-cased win- 
dows, with window-seats, looking south and east, and a marble 
mantel. Opening from this room to the west, a small door leads 
to General Schuyler's study or office, a bright, attractive south 
room, where the books may have been kept, with a small bed- 
room beyond it. Access to this office could be had from the 
smaller entrance-door at the west of the house. The dining-room, 
a large north-west corner room, is entered from the back hall. 
The kitchen was probably in the cellar, which underlies the entire 
house, and is lighted by small windows.^ 

The second floor of the house has a hall longer than the one be- 
neath, but the ceiling is not as high. It is said that the young 

1 See article in the ' ' Architectural Record ' ' of June 30, 1896, by Marcus T. 
Reynolds, ' ' The Colonial Buildings of Rensselaerwick. ' ' Part of the above descrip- 
tion is taken from "Catherine Schuyler," by Mary Gay Humphreys, 1897. 

2 When, in the middle of the nineteenth century, the family of Judge Tracy, then 
owners of the house, built a commodious, well-lighted kitchen to the west of the 
dining-room, the old slave quarters which extended back of that side of the house 
were destroyed. 

7 



people used to dance here. The bedroom on the south-east cor- 
ner, directly over the drawing-room, is shown as the one where 
Burgoyne and his oflQcers slept when prisoners of war and guests 
of the house. ^ 

The woodwork throughout the house is white, and the first floor 
has the low wainscot in two simple panels everywhere found in 
houses of the period. Every room is well-lighted with large win- 
dows, deeply recessed and with inviting window-seats. The 
doors are painted to resemble mahogany, and have solid brass 
knobs, and locks which turn twice. The heavy, pine floors are 
good for generations to come. 

A steep stairway leads to the large attic, a most inviting stow- 
away place with great beams overhead. One thinks of the master 
carpenter, John Gaborial, and his good workmanship, as one 
studies the eighteenth-century builder's art, which framed so 
large a structure out of hand-wrought timber, made fast with 
wooden pegs. 

Those who saw them fifty years ago remember, behind the man- 
sion, the servants' quarters, small wooden buildings painted 
white, since then removed. The servants were negro slaves, and 
the buildings, although not so important, resembled those in the 
rear of Washington's home at Mount Vernon. 

The Schuyler house had ample grounds about it, with gardens 
and orchards, with grapevines trained upon trellised arbors, 
flower beds and well-kept lawns. It was approached by an ave- 
nue bordered by fine trees from the entrance gate. 

The vine-covered porch at the south of the house, given in the 
picture, was an arbor; there was no entrance to the house on 
that side.2 

1 Another tradition places Bnrgoyne's room on the main floor, the large north- 
east-corner room. This would seem probable on account of its size, as it is known that 
mattresses were placed on the floor to accommodate his officers. 

2 To-day, the grounds about the house are much curtailed. The city has grown up 
to "The Pastures," and has surrounded it, leaving about an acre for lawn and 
trees. The near-by city streets, bearing the Schuyler names of Philip, Catharine and 
Elizabeth, undoubtedly indicate the original extent of the property. The grading of 
the streets has made a deep cut through the lawn at the east of the house, necessitating 
the high flight of wooden steps which leads up to the entrance-door. 



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Drawing-room in which Hamilton was married to Elizabeth Schuyler (1780) 
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The Historic Staircase, with Mark of Tomahawk on Railing 



in 

THE GUESTS OF THE HOUSE 

The mansion completed, Philip Schuyler and his wife resided in 
it for the remainder of their lives, except the months spent at their 
country seat at Saratoga where they passed part of every year. 
In it they died, Mrs. Schuyler in 1803 and the General in 1804, 
after which the property passed out of the family. Schuyler was 
noted for his hospitality, and it may be said of this house that, 
during his lifetime, no stranger of distinction visited Albany 
without either entering its portal or sleeping under its roof. 

In Colonial days, came the Crown Governors from New York— 
Tryon and his wife. Sir Henry Moore and his wife and daughters, 
Sir Guy Carleton and Oliver De Lancey; also Schuyler's friends 
in public life, whether in or out of the Provincial Assembly- 
Philip Livingston, John Cruger, William Duer, William Smith, 
Jr., Henry Van Schaick, and many others ; while the large family 
connection. Van Rensselaers, Schuylers from New Jersey, Liv- 
ingstons, Ten Broecks, Van Cortlandts, Cochrans, Bayards and 
Cuylers, came and went. Hospitality was sacred in those days, 
the homestead being always open to relatives to come and sleep 
under the roof . There were no hotels. Strangers bringing letters of 
introduction were of course kept by the fireside. Many a family 
has its eighteenth-century tradition of the guest who came to 
pass a month, and who stayed seven years ! On the other hand, 
the Manors were often remote and the winter evenings long! 

There were also visitors of another kind. In 1767, a band of 
nine Cherokee warriors, headed by their chief, Attakullakulla, 
came from the South to the Iroquois country to sue for peace 
from the Six Nations. Schuyler met the rude embassy as they 
landed from the sloop and conducted them to his house, after 
which he accompanied them for a short distance on their journey. 

With the Revolution, came Commissioners from Congress 

9 



and ofiflcers going northward to the armies. The most notable 
were Benjamin Franklin and Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and 
with them Father John Carroll, afterwards the first bishop of 
the Koman Catholic Church in the United States. Then came a 
succession of eminent persons — Hamilton, Lafayette, St. Clair, 
Clinton, Steuben, Knox, Wilcox, Duane, Gansevoort, and others. 
After the peace, Washington himself crowned the house with his 
presence. Even Gates was made welcome ; and, by a tragic coin- 
cidence, young Aaron Burr, studying law in Albany, introduced 
by Alexander MacDougal of New York, often sat in that sunny 
south room, the General's study, consulting the books kindly 
placed at his disposal— Burr who was to bring sorrow and 
mourning into that household, when Hamilton fell in the duel, 
pierced by the well-aimed bullet of Burr's animosity. 

But the coming, as guests, of General Burgoyne and his staff 
officers, directly after the burning by the British of Schuyler's 
country house, barns and mills at Saratoga, makes the Albany 
house a monument of Schuyler's unselfish and chivalrous kind- 
ness. With Burgoyne were Baron Eiedesel and other officers. 
They were preceded by the Baroness Riedesel and her children, 
and by Major Ackland and his wife, Lady Harriet Ackland. 

After the war, during Schuyler 's untiring efforts for the adop- 
tion of the Federal Constitution, besides Hamilton we have the 
great lawyers, John Jay, Chancellor Kent, Chancellor Living- 
ston, Gouverneur Morris and others. Later, when Schuyler was 
promoting the building of canals throughout the State, came 
Elkanah Watson and three eminent engineers from England, 
Sweden and France : William Weston and William Seaton, and 
Brunei who afterwards constructed the tunnel under the Thames. 

Schuyler's judgment as to land-purchases, colonization, water 
power and timber was known throughout the Province, and his 
advice was constantly sought in regard to these and other impor- 
tant matters. The Wadsworths came to consult him about pur- 
chases in the Genesee valley; Governors of adjacent Provinces 
engaged in settling boundaries; and Commissioners of Indian 
Affairs,— the Rev. Dr. Kirkland with them, missionary to the 
Indians. 

Under de Rochambeau, in 1780, a bevy of French officers ar- 
rived, and, as every Frenchman wished to visit that battle-field 

10 



where England had been humiliated, from this time until the 
General's death the old house saw many gay uniforms, and 
echoed with the speech of the courteous French gentry of the 
ancien regime, wending their way to Saratoga. 

One of the most interesting descriptions of the mansion is 
found in the pages of the Marquis de Chastellux's ''Travels in 
North America," where, after telling of his "continued journey, 
through a forest of fir trees, ' ' he reached the Hudson opposite Al- 
bany. He writes: ''A handsome house half-way up the bank, 
opposite the ferry, seems to attract attention and to invite 
strangers to stop at General Schuyler's, who is the proprietor. 
... I had recommendations to him from all quarters, but par- 
ticularly from General Washington and Mrs. Carter (Church). 
I had besides given the rendezvous to Colonel Hamilton, who had 
just married another of his daughters, and who was preceded by 
the Vicomte de Noailles, and the Comte de Damas, who I knew 
were arrived the night before. The sole difficulty, therefore, con- 
sisted in passing the river. Whilst the boat was making its way 
with difficulty through the flakes of ice, which we were obliged to 
break as we advanced, Mr. Lynch, who is not indifferent about a 
good dinner, contemplating General Schuyler's house, mourn- 
fully says to me: 'I am sure the Vicomte and Damas are now at 
table, where they have good cheer and good company, whilst 
we are here kicking our heels, in hopes of getting this evening to 
some wretched alehouse.' I partook a little of his anxiety, but 
diverted myself by assuring him that they saw us from the win- 
dows, that I even distinguished the Vicomte de Noailles who was 
looking at us through a telescope, and that he was going to send 
somebody to conduct us on our landing to that excellent house, 
where we should find dinner ready to come on table ; I even pre- 
tended that a sledge I had seen descending towards the river was 
designed for us. As chance would have it, never was conjecture 
more just. The first person we saw on shore was the Chevalier 
de Mauduit who was waiting for us with the general's sledge, 
into which we quickly stepped, and were conveyed in an instant 
into a handsome salon near a good fire, with Mr. Schuyler, his 
wife and daughters. Whilst we were warming ourselves, din- 
ner was served, to which every one did honour, as well as to the 
Madeira which was excellent, and made us completely forget the 

11 



rigour of the season and the fatigue of the journey. General 
Schuyler's family was composed of Mrs. Hamilton, his second 
daughter, who has a mild, agreeable countenance ; of Miss Peggy 
Schuyler, whose features are animated and striking ; of another 
charming girl, only eight years old ; and of three boys, the eldest 
of whom is fifteen, and are the handsomest children you can see. ' ' 



12 





Charles Carroll of Carrolltoii 



Philip Livingston 




Benjaniiu Franklin 





John Jay 



P>arou Steuben 





Mrs. Philip Schuyler 



General Burgoyiie 





Baroness Eiedesel 



Lady Harriet AcklantI 




Lafayette 





Count de Rochambeau 



Marquis de Chastellux 




Washineton 



IV 

THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE 

1733-1804 

At the time of the building of this house, Philip Schuyler had 
attained his twenty-eighth year. He came of a sturdy, fight- 
ing stock— pioneers who felled the forests, fought the savages, 
bargained with them for furs and got possession of their land, 
cultivated it, built boats, houses and mills, sold lumber, grain 
and provisions, and, when the need came, shouldered their fire- 
arms and headed many a bloody foray against their enemies, — 
the French Canadians and their Indian allies. 

He was fourth in descent from Philip Pieterse Schuyler, who, 
with a kinsman, probably a brother, David Pieterse Schuyler, emi- 
grated to Albany from Holland before 1650. His great-uncle was 
the distinguished Peter Schuyler, the "Quider," beloved and 
feared by the Indians, whose power in dealing with them was unri- 
valled in his day. Three times acting Governor of the Province, 
Chairman of the Board of Indian Commissioners, Mayor of 
Albany, his influence extended over the whole colony. Partly to 
impress the Six Nations with the power of England, and partly 
to excite English interest in the provincial struggles with 
France, Peter Schuyler took four Mohawk chiefs to London, 
where they were presented to Queen Anne as ^* Kings," by the 
Earl of Shrewsbury, and were driven through the streets in 
royal carriages. 

Philip Schuyler's grandfather. Captain Johannes Schuyler, 
led an expedition to Canada, in retaliation for the terrible massa- 
cre at Schenectady by French and Indians in 1690. His uncle 
Philip was killed defending his house at Saratoga against an at- 
tack made by French and Indians in 1745. The early death of his 
father, Johannes Schuyler, Jr., Mayor of Albany and Indian 

13 



Commissioner, left Philip when eight years old, with an older 
sister and two little brothers, to the guardianship of their mother, 
Cornelia Van Cortlandt Schuyler, a woman of superior character, 
much respected in the community. Philip studied at home under a 
Huguenot tutor, and when about fifteen was sent to a school in 
New Rochelle, New York, kept by Dr. Stouppe, the pastor of the 
French Protestant Church. John Jay went to this same school 
at a later date. Philip remained there about three years. He 
studied assiduously and his proficiency in mathematics and the 
knowledge of the French language, which he then acquired, 
proved important factors in his subsequent career. 

At eighteen we find him in the wilderness, on the borders of the 
upper Mohawk, hunting and trading with the Indians, as young 
Albanians of his day were accustomed to do. He is described at 
that time as " a tall youth with a florid complexion, a benevolent 
cast of features, a fine manly deportment, and distinguished for 
great kindness of manner. ' ' He was a favorite with the Indians. 
For generations his name had stood with them for kindness and 
fair dealing. When about twenty, he rendered the chiefs of the 
Oneidas a service they never forgot. They met him at the carry- 
ing place between Wood Creek and Oneida Lake and besought him 
to nullify a sale of their lands to scheming white speculators, 
made by the dissolute young men of their tribe bribed by money 
and whiskey. Schuyler was successful. The grateful chiefs paid 
him the compliment of exchanging names with him, and continued 
their good will from that time on to Schuyler and his descendants. 

At twenty, we have a letter from him from New York written 
to his friend, Abraham Ten Broeck. He goes to the theatre and 
sees the play called ''Conscious Lovers" — "written, you know," 
he explains, "by Sir Richard Steele, Addison's help in writing 
the Spectator." He adds, "Tomorrow I expect to go into New 
Jersey to visit Colonel Schuyler, who was at our house four or 
five years ago when he returned from Oswego. He is a kinsman 
and a good soldier, and as"! believe we shall have war again with 
the French quite as soon as we could wish, I expect he will lead 
his Jersey men to the field. I wish you and I, Brom, could go 
with him." He concludes with "Love to Peggy and to sweet 
Kitty V. R. if you see her. ' ' 

In the autumn of 1754 Philip came of age. The English law 

14 



of primogeniture gave him all the real estate which belonged to 
his father. Dutch tradition and the generosity of his nature 
caused him to disregard the law, and to divide the estate equally 
between his brothers and sisters. 

By 1755 the war he expected had come. ''The Old French 
War," it is called. Early in the year Schuyler raised a company 
and was commissioned Captain by the Governor of the Province, 
James De Lancey. As Captain he served under Johnson in the 
disastrous expedition against Crown Point in 1755 ; under Brad- 
street in 1756, when the fort at Oswego was successfully relieved 
and provisioned ; and under Bradstreet again, in 1758, when Fort 
Frontenac on Lake Ontario was gallantly captured. It was at 
this time that Schuyler 's intimacy with Bradstreet began. 

In 1768 Philip Schuyler was elected, with Jacob H. Ten Eyck, 
to represent the city and countj^ of Albany in the Provincial As- 
sembly, a small body elected for seven years, — the members 
chosen by freeholders only, and sitting in New York City. Al- 
though the Stamp Act of 1765 had been successfully defeated, a 
conservative reaction had taken place, and he found the Royalist 
party, headed by the De Lanceys, in control. He ranged himself 
distinctly on the American side. From 1768 to 1774, the records 
of the Assembly show him to have been active in all matters per- 
taining to the industrial and commercial welfare of the colony, 
taking frequent part in debate, and asserting the rights of the 
Province. Of the patriotic resolutions introduced into the As- 
sembly, some of the boldest were drafted by him, and it was at his 
suggestion that Edmund Burke was appointed the agent of New 
York in England. Every patriotic movement was defeated by 
the same (Royalist) majority, while in the minority were always 
recorded the names of Schuyler, Van Cortlandt, Clinton, Ten 
Broeck, and Livingston. 

''Colonel Schuyler and Clinton hold forth in the opposition," 
wrote Lieutenant-Governor Colden in the spring of 1775 to 
Tryon, then in England. Later he writes : " I am persuaded that 
it will give you some concern. Sir, to hear that Colonel Schuyler, 
Ten Broeck and Livingston made a violent opposition in the 
House. They openly espoused the cause of the last Congress 
(held in Philadelphia in 1774) and strove hard to have delegates 
appointed by the House for that which is to be held in May. 

15 



They are now gone home to get that done by the election of the 
people which they could not effect in the House. ' ' 

From this time until his death, in 1804, Schuyler pursued his 
useful and honorable career. He was member of the Continental 
Congress in 1775; Major-General of the Northern Department 
under Washington, 1775-1777; again member of the Continental 
Congress in 1779; and, with Kufus King, one of the two first 
United States Senators from the State of New York, 1789. From 
1780 to 1790 he was almost continuously a member of the Senate 
of the State of New York; was appointed one of the Commis- 
sioners to settle the Massachusetts and Pennsylvania boundaries 
question ; Chairman of the Board of Indian Commissioners ; and 
Surveyor-General of the State. 

In his private capacity, Schuyler was president of two canal 
companies incorporated in 1792. His visit to England, in 1761, 
had greatly stimulated his interest in canals as well as in agri- 
culture. He was a member of the * ' New York Society for Pro- 
moting the Arts," and received a testimonial from it for his ex- 
periments in the cultivation of flax and hemp on his Saratoga 
estate. 

No account of Schuyler would be just to him without mention 
of his constant ill health. At fifty he is spoken of as being an 
invalid and much broken. The scientific treatment of rheumatism 
and gout was unknown in Schuyler's day, and persons subject to 
those diseases endured a lifetime of unnecessary torture. When 
a youth of seventeen at the Huguenot school, where John Jay 
states the boys were insufficiently nourished, the first painful at- 
tack of rheumatic gout occurred, and throughout his career, often 
at the most critical moment, he was obliged to succumb to the 
disease, a situation mortifying to his pride and detrimental to 
his success. 



16 



V 

THE MISTRESS OF THE HOUSE 

1734-1803 

Mrs. Philip Schuyler, the ''sweet Kitty V. R." of her hus- 
band's boyish letter to his friend, Brom Ten Broeck, was by 
all accounts a beautiful woman, a belle and ''toast" of her day. 
She was a daughter of John Van Rensselaer, proprietor of 
the Lower Manor of Rensselaerwyck, and of Engeltie (Angelica) 
Livingston. Lossing, who knew and conversed with two of her 
daughters, Mrs. Hamilton and Mrs. Cochran, describes her as 
having delicately cut features, dark eyes and hair, and a high 
color ; that she was ' ' below medium height but graceful in move- 
ment, with a sweet and winning manner and low, soft voice." 
Her son Philip inherited his mother's beauty; Mrs. Hamilton, 
those dark eyes and that low, soft voice; and Mrs. Morton the 
delicate features. When Mrs. Schuyler was no longer young, 
her daughter Angelica (Mrs. Church) writes to her mother 
from London, where she then resided, her husband being a mem- 
ber of Parliament : 

' ' I send you a tea caddy, and a card which will make you laugh. 
Embrace dear papa a thousand times. I pray to heaven that 
General Washington would send him ambassador here and that 
you would come with him. We would all live together, or in two 
adjoining houses, and you would make everybody love and re- 
spect you ; besides, I should be so proud of my handsome mother. 
What pains I would take to do every thing to please you, dear, 
dear mama,— let it be so, pray do." 

Mrs. Schuyler is spoken of as having firmness of will, executive 
ability, and great kindness. Evidently she was very simple in her 
manner — "quiet, unobtrusive, kindly," she is called. Well-born, 
and having an assured position, she had that entire absence of 
assumption which stamps true dignity and marks the highest 

17 



breeding. She probably was a silent person. It is the animation 
and liveliness of her daughters, not hers, that her guests dwell 
upon. Yet when Charles Carroll writes of "the ease and affa- 
bility with which we were treated," and which made the visit a 
^'most pleasing sejour/' it would seem that Mrs. Schuyler 
knew well how to put her guests at their ease, and to make them 
feel at home. Tench Tilghman, an enthusiastic young Mary- 
lander, has much to say of this. ''There is something in the 
behavior of the general, his wife and daughters, that makes one 
acquainted with them instantly. I feel as easy and free from 
restraint at his seat as I feel at Cliffden, where I am always at a 
second home." 

If she talked but little, she certainly wrote nothing at all. Her 
clear, strong signature affixed to real-estate documents, and a few 
little matter-of-fact notes, confined to housekeeping details, are 
all we have. Her husband was a good talker. ' ' His conversation 
is easy and agreeable," writes the Marquis de Chastellux. "He 
knows well what he says, and expresses himself well on every- 
thing he knows." He was also a voluminous letter writer. 
Scores of his letters to his children are preserved, always with 
some mention of "your mamma." Conversation and corres- 
pondence she left to him! Handsome, silent, strong,— she was 
one of those women who exert an immense influence within the 
family circle. Her devotion to her husband was absolute, as was 
his to her. He expresses it in his letters, both before and after 
her death, in the strongest manner, and writes to his eldest son 
of the infinite obligation his children are under to their mother. 

She had a large family of children, many of whom died in 
infancy, and her maternal cares alone were enough to preoccupy 
her time and thought. She lived during two long wars and knew 
the stern exigencies imposed at such times upon the women of the 
community. The early days of her married life, when her hus- 
band was at the front under Johnson, were spent with her 
mother-in-law in caring for wounded officers, prisoners of war, 
consigned by Schuyler himself to their care. One of these officers 
writes to Schuyler: "One can add nothing to the politeness of 
Madame your mother and Madame your wife. Every day there 
come from them to the Baron (Dieskau) fruits, and other rare 
sweets, which are of great service to him." Again, at the time of 

18 



Abercrombie's disastrous defeat, being a visitor at "The 
Flatts," the old Schuyler homestead that lay in the path of the 
retreating army, she with the other ladies of the family trans- 
formed the great barn into a hospital. The sheets and table- 
cloths were torn up for bandages, the negro women became cooks 
for the wounded. Aunt Schuyler and her nieces, ''Catharine 
Schuyler and Gertrude and the two Miss Cuylers'^ were the 
nurses. 

At a crisis she rises to acts of fortitude and daring. She never 
fails her husband in time of need. He was subject to sudden and 
alarming attacks of illness. One of them occurred in 1769 when 
he was attending the Colonial Assembly in New York as Member 
from Albany. The old friend. General Bradstreet, who lived 
with them at the time, writes : ' * Dear Schuyler : I received Your 
letter last night which put your wife & Children in such distress 
that I had it not in my power to write to you by the former who 
instantly Cross 'd the Eiver in a Storme of Kain & danger to set 
out this morning from her father 's to you^ — All I could say was 
to no purpose, nor that part of your letter that mentions the dan- 
ger being over, & of your growing Better — which no person 
wishes more sincerely than myself, ' ' 

Later, in the war of the Revolution, during the disastrous inva- 
sion of Canada, ordered by Congress in 1775, General Schuyler 
was taken very ill at the Isle au Noix at the northern end of Lake 
Champlain and was carried back on a litter to Ticonderoga. 
Upon receiving the news his wife started at once from Albany, 
making her way over those almost impassable roads and through 
those water-waj^s of the wilderness in the rudest craft, hurrying 
to the sick man's bedside, where she nursed him until he could be 
brought back to Albany. 

To be at the head of a large establishment in the eighteenth 
century, and to fill the position well, required a woman of more 
than ordinary ability. Foresight in laying in supplies, care and 
thought in dispensing them ; the supervision of domestic servants 
(negro slaves in our State until the early part of the nineteenth 
century), the readiness to receive, accommodate and feed a num- 
ber of guests, their servants as well, in a day when there were 
practically no hotels— all this fell upon the mistress of the Schuy- 

1 The ' ' Crailo, ' ' the Van Kensselaer house at Greenbush, opposite Albany. 

19 



ler home. Not but that her husband assisted her in every way ; 
but his duties often took him away from home, and the responsi- 
bilities were hers. The standard of living, as far as food was 
concerned, was high. The table was covered with dishes and 
side-dishes, serving a la Russe (one dish at a time) being un- 
known. The enormous sets of china, then in use, have every sort 
of small dish with which the table was covered. The cooking was 
elaborate, as is shown by family receipts carefully copied and 
handed down for generations. They also prove the plenty that 
existed, of eggs, cream, poultry, fish and game, woodcock, quail 
and partridges, the many kinds of vegetables, and small fruits. 
There was an abundance of peaches and plums. The Indians 
brought haunches of venison to Albany ; the Hudson was full of 
fine fish. 

As in Virginia, each family prided itself on its hams, cured by 
a much prized receipt, while spare-ribs and cheeks, head-cheese 
and souse, and all the other good things, came forth at ''killing 
time. ' ' The rich plum cake, the mince-meat, crullers, and ' ' oley- 
koecks" came at Christmas, to be followed by New Year's 
cookies, and the buckwheat-cakes, waffles, and pastry of the win- 
ter months. On hot summer days "Bonny Klaber," syllabub, 
and curds, were in order, and stores of preserves and jellies 
were put up before the autumn. The lavish use of ingredients 
for the cooking appals the modern housekeeper! Take a hun- 
dred and twenty-five oysters, take twenty-five pigeons, take 
dozens of eggs, quarts of cream, pounds of butter, say the old cook 
books ! Take fifteen pounds of beef and spice it for three days ; 
throw in a bottle of claret before serving, says the old receipt ! 
The good things are shared with the married daughters when 
they have households of their own. Indeed, the ladies of that 
day interchanged gifts from their storerooms much as the gentle- 
men did from their wine cellars. 

Some old and trained servants there were to help Mrs. Schuy- 
ler. ''How is old Prince?" writes Mrs. Church to her mother 
from London. "When I don't see the old man's name I think he 
is dead. " Prince was an African, a slave. It was reported soon 
after he became a member of the household that he refused to eat 
with the other negroes on the ground that he was their superior 
in rank in Africa. His meals were then served to him apart from 

20 



the others. Soon he was promoted, and he became a trusted and 
most faithful upper servant. So well was Prince known to the 
guests of the Schuyler house that John Jay, writing from Spain 
to Schuyler, says that he has chosen as the key to his cipher dis- 
patches the name of that faithful servant, who for thirty years 
has never failed to stand at the dinner table behind his mistress's 
chair. 

If the home reflects the standard of daily living of the mistress, 
then Mrs. Schuyler must be credited with a refinement of taste 
which showed itself in her surroundings. The various descrip- 
tions of her house attest this. ' * He lives in a very pretty style, ' ' 
writes Charles Carroll of Carrollton, speaking of General Schuy- 
ler. The Marquis de Chastellux notes, ''a handsome salon, and 
a good fire." Burgoyne calls it '*an elegant house." John 
Trumbull, the artist, writes, ' ' I was very much impressed by the 
elegant style of everything I saw." The household effects that 
are still preserved are handsome and suitable, and in good taste. 
Mrs. Schuyler's drawing-room furniture is of the Adams period, 
of light wood, the coverings of blue satin, and comprises large 
sofas, many chairs, and a charming unique centre table. There 
are solid mahogany dining-room chairs of the early eighteenth- 
century type, with ball-and-claw feet and leather-covered seats ; 
also the mahogany dining-table around which so many celebrated 
people have met. There is a graceful silver epergne with its 
mirror base, a beautiful, pierced silver cake-basket, plated stands 
to hold glass dessert dishes. East India china, cut-glass dishes- 
all good of their kind. 

Of Mrs. Schuyler's dress and personal effects, but little is pre- 
served, save a fan with carved ivory sticks, of the period of the 
French eighteenth-century craze for Chinese art, and a mourning 
brooch set in small pearls, containing exquisite hair-work, worn 
in memory of her father. Her youthful portrait, of the same 
period and style as that of Mrs. Washington, depicts her in the 
full evening dress of the ladies of her day. Her husband's bills 
give items of a costly hat with plumes imported from England 
for Mrs. Schuyler, ''a crimson velvet night gown (dressing 
gown) for Miss Peggy", ''a velvet coat for Master Rensselaer." 

But a far more important side of her character claims atten- 
tion—her kindness, of which Franklin wrote to Josiah Quincy. 

21 



Franklin, Charles Carroll and Samuel Chase, the Commissioners 
appointed by Congress, had made their tour of inspection of the 
northern frontier, and Franklin, worn out by the fatigues of the 
journey, when he reached the Albany house was far from well. 
The General was with the army. Mrs. Schuyler nursed him for 
a week and sent him on his way down the Hudson. 

Of this incident Franklin writes to Schuyler : ' ' We arrived here 
safe yesterday evening in your post-chaise driven by Lewis. I was 
unwilling to give you so much trouble and would have borrowed 
your sulky and driven myself, but good Mrs. Schuyler insisted on 
a full compliance with your pleasure as signified in your letter, 
and I was obliged to submit, which I was afterward very glad of, 
part of the road being very stony and much gullied, when I 
should probably have overset and broken my own bones, all the 
skill and dexterity of Lewis being no more than sufficient. Through 
tlie influence of your kind recommendation to the Inn-keepers on 
the road, we found a great readiness to supply us with a change 
of horses." 

If there were no hotels in Mrs. Schuyler's day there certainly 
were no organized charities of any kind. The destitute and out- 
cast came to the houses of the well-to-do to be fed and given shel- 
ter in some out-building or barn. The daughter of James Feni- 
niore Cooper, who knew the traditions, writes that there was a 
well-trodden footpath from Albany to ''The Pastures" along 
which could be seen, wending their way to the house, a poor 
negro, or an Indian, to return "with a blessing on their lips in 
Dutch or in Mohawk. ' ' 

On the Saratoga estate, where she knew the wants of her neigh- 
bors, Mrs. Schuyler would send one of her milch cows to a poor 
family for their use ; indeed, no more grateful tribute can be paid 
her than the saying of those who knew her intimately, that she 
was "much loved by the poor." 

During the advance of Burgoyne, when panic-stricken fugitives 
were hurrying to Albany, they met a carriage with a single armed 
escort, traveling northward. Within sat Mrs. Schuyler. She 
was on her way to her house at Saratoga to save and bring back 
her household treasures. To the remonstrances of those she met, 
for many of them knew her, she answered, smiling, "The Gen- 
oral's wife must not be afraid." The tradition is that on her 

22 



return she set fire with her own hands to some fields of wheat on 
the estate, thus carrying out her husband's policy of destroying 
all possible subsistence for the invaders. Leutze, in an oil paint- 
ing, engravings of which exist, perpetuates this incident. The 
waiting carriage, the horses' heads and ears nervous and alert, 
the driver anxiously looking back, the frightened negro servant, 
holding a lighted lantern, half kneeling, half clinging to his mis- 
tress's skirts, the resolute woman throwing a blazing pine fagot 
into the yellow grain. 



23 



VI 
BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN 

If Lexington, followed by the splendid fighting of the New 
England men at Bunker Hill, "fired the shot heard round the 
world," if Washington's masterly generalship in the Jerseys 
amazed and chagrined the British and held them at bay, the 
battle of Saratoga in its world-wide significance was the most 
important episode of the American Revolution. 

It opened the eyes of Europe to the magnitude of the struggle, 
it encouraged the friends of America in the British Parliament, 
it gave us the alliance with France, and sent a French army and 
navy to our support. 

Burgoyne's surrender was due to many causes. No one man 
can claim the credit for it. But the recognition of Schuyler's 
share in bringing it to pass has now been fully accorded him, and 
he stands in the hearts of his countrymen as the uncrowned 
victor of Saratoga. 

Burgoyne landed at Quebec, in May, 1777, with about 4000 
British regulars and 3000 German veterans, to which were added 
later 1000 Canadians and Indians, making a force of nearly 
8000 men. It was a well-equipped army, the officers selected for 
their ability, and last, but not least, provided with a fine train of 
brass cannon. The plan of campaign was this: Burgoyne to 
move south from Canada and capture Albany; General Howe's 
army, stationed in New York City, to come up the Hudson; a 
force of Canadians and Indians under Sir John Johnson to ap- 
proach by way of Oswego on Lake Ontario, harrying the Mohawk 
Valley— all three commands to meet at Albany. With the Hud- 
son controlled by the British, New England cut off from the 
Southern Provinces, and the Americans without a navy, the 
inevitable result must be a speedy subjugation of the rebellion. 

Burgoyne's army reached St. John near the head of Lake 

24 



Cliamplain, by June 18, 1777, sailed down the lake and landed 
at Crown Point, by June 27th, and then commenced to move upon 
Fort Ticonderoga, which commanded the entrance to Lake 
George and the road through the forest to Albany, and which he 
captured eight days later. 

The fall of Ticonderoga was a terrible blow to the whole coun- 
try,— to Washington, to the army, and to Congress. Schuyler, 
chief in command of the Northern Department, was responsible 
for it and had to bear the brunt of the disaster. A storm of re- 
proach burst upon him and upon St. Clair, who was in command 
of the fort. They were most unjustly accused of the basest 
motives, of treachery, of cowardice ; and, before long. Congress 
relieved Schuyler of his command. Meanwhile Schuyler re- 
doubled his activities and strained every nerve, both to obstruct 
Burgoyne's further advance and to prevent St. Leger's troops 
and Sir John Johnson's savages from reaching Albany by the 
Mohawk Valley. As to Burgoyne, Schuyler knew well the nature 
of the twenty miles the British general had to traverse before 
reaching Fort Edward on the east bank of the Hudson, north of 
Saratoga. The land was covered by heavy forests and inter- 
sected by streams and swamps. The roads, though rough, being 
passable, Schuyler sent a thousand men thither with axes. The 
trees were cut on either side so that they fell across each 
other, with trunks and branches intersecting till a tangle 
was formed which a man could hardly penetrate. Every bridge 
was destroyed and the streams choked with fallen trees. It took 
Burgoyne twenty days to make those twenty miles, and those 
twenty days were of decisive importance. They gave to the 
American reinforcements time to collect, they brought Burgoyne 
face-to-face with his fatal difficulty, the want of subsistence for 
his men. Upon emerging from the forest at Fort Edward, he 
found Schuyler had burned forage and grain, had driven off or 
killed cattle, had laid the country waste. 

Meanwhile, in the Mohawk Valley, Schuyler had roused the in- 
habitants to defend their territory, and General Herkimer, at 
Oriskany, fought one of the most bloody hand-to-hand battles of 
the Revolution ; Colonel Peter Gansevoort and Marinus Willett 
held Fort Schuyler against St. Leger at the head of the Mohawk 
River, cooperating with Herkimer ; while Schuyler sent a strong 

25 



force under Arnold from liis headquarters at Stillwater into the 
Mohawk Valley. The enemy was routed ; they abandoned every- 
thing ; their army melted away ; and St. Leger and Johnson took 
boats at Oswego for Canada. 

Ten days after Oriskany, occurred the important American 
victory at Bennington, Vermont, under Stark. A strong force 
had been sent thither by Burgoyne to secure the provisions and 
horses collected there by the Americans. Burgoyne lost in this 
engagement one-seventh of his army, with all their arms and four 
cannon. 

Washington's trust in Schuyler had never faltered through the 
dark days after the fall of Ticonderoga. Though he could not de- 
tach troops from his command, having to watch Lord Howe's 
army to prevent a move up the Hudson, he rendered all the as- 
sistance he could. He sent two important officers to Schuyler- 
Lincoln, who had influence with the New England militia, Arnold, 
known as a reckless fighter— both of them popular with the New 
England troops. These men rendered Schuyler invaluable ser- 
vice. 

The New Yorker of to-day asks why such importance is placed 
upon the New England militia? Why these incessant appeals to 
Congress for supplies? Where was the New York militia? 
Where was the New York money? He does not realize that at 
that day the Province of New York ranked sixth in population 
with the other colonies and that, with her wealthy seaport, the 
City of New York, in the hands of the British throughout the 
entire war, there was little or no money to be had. A fringe of 
cultivated country bordered the Hudson, the lower Mohawk, the 
Delaware ; there were no towns of any size save Albany, Kings- 
ton, Schenectady, and a few others ; the rest of the State was a 
wilderness. 

In this connection the devotion and zeal of those citizens of our 
State who were true to the American cause, for there were many 
royalists among us, should never be forgotten. The prominent 
citizens of Albany and elsewhere, the land-holding families of the 
Hudson River, the patriots of Westchester County, should ever 
be gratefully remembered. At the time of Burgojaie's advance 
there came from the Livingston Manors all the provisions that 
could be gathered up, forwarded to General Schuyler 's army. And 

2G 



subsequently, one of these Livingston houses was fired at from 
the river by a British man-of-war, and entered and taken posses- 
sion of, in retaliation for the well-known zeal of its owner for the 
American cause. 

Ticonderoga fell on the 5th of July, 1777. Burgoyne reached 
Fort Edward, July 27th. Schuyler had fallen back from un- 
tenable positions, bringing with him all his stores and ammuni- 
tion. On July 31st, Schuyler, with the concurrence of Lincoln and 
Arnold, crossed the Hudson and took up his jDOsition at Still- 
water and Saratoga, on high ground out of the forest, about 
thirty miles north of Albany. Here Schuyler reorganized and 
recruited his small force of 3000 men, now daily growing in 
strength and confidence. The whole country was roused by the 
danger of the situation. The stories of outrages by Burgoyne 's 
savages, the murder of Jane McCrae by the Indians, had 
stirred every heart, "had recruited the ranks and quickened 
the steps of every militia company in Massachusetts and Con- 
necticut. ' ' 

Putnam's regiment from Peekskill had come, and Morgan's 
riflemen were to follow. Lincoln was on his way with two thou- 
sand men from the Hampshire Grants. Stark was coming with 
the victors of Bennington. Arnold was returning from the Mo- 
hawk, with a large body of New York militia no longer needed 
there. Pierre Van Cortlandt's militia regiment, and that of 
Henry Brockhurst Livingston, were on their way, with Ten 
Broeck's troops of the line to follow. Schuyler was sure of 
10,000 men. At this juncture, on the 9tli of August, General 
Gates arrived from Philadelphia, bearing a commission as Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Northern Department. 

Schuyler's character was severely tried when he received the 
humiliating news that after his untiring and successful labors, 
when a bright military prospect seemed before him, when the 
wished-for army was assured and a decisive battle imminent, an- 
other man was to take his place. By the way he bore this trial 
he must be judged as a man and a patriot. Many men have put 
life and property in jeopardy for their country's sake; but few 
men, holding high commands, have borne calumny from the peo- 
ple and unjust treatment from the government, as Schuyler did, 
without being soured, without vindictive feeling, without any 

27 



diminution of public spirit. This test of character, so nobly met, 
touches the highest note of patriotism. 

When Gates arrived in camp, Schuyler received him with 
politeness, gave him all the information he possessed regarding 
the enemy and his own army, and offered his assistance in any 
capacity. Gates ignored him completely. Schuyler left the camp 
and returned to his Albany home. The warm letters he received 
from his friends at this period show how they esteemed him and 
the view they took of the situation. "I am chagrined to the 
soul, ' ' wrote Henry B. Livingston, in September, from Saratoga, 
''when I think that another person is to reap the fruit of your 
labors." 

By September 13th, Burgoyne crossed the Hudson to move 
upon Albany. On the 19th occurred the first battle at Saratoga, 
Bemis Heights and Freeman's Farm, when Morgan and Arnold 
checked the British advance. On October 7th was the second 
battle at Freeman's Farm, Morgan and Arnold again leading the 
assaults and bearing everything before them. During the next 
ten days the American army had increased to 16,000 men. 
The British were surrounded and .assailed from every side; 
retreat was cut off ; provisions and even water were unattainable. 
On the 17th of October, 1777, followed the inevitable surrender. 

The glad news of the capitulation reached Albany. The citi- 
zens were wild with delight. By a coincidence, Schuyler 's Sara- 
toga estate formed part of the battle-field. During the mili- 
tary operations, the British burned his house, barns, granaries 
and stables. With the news of the great victory came these 
tidings of personal disaster. To Colonel Varick, his former 
aide-de-camp, then at Saratoga, Schuyler wrote : ' ' The event that 
has taken place makes the heavy loss I have sustained sit quite 
easy on me. Britain will probably see how fruitless her attempts 
to enslave us will be. I set out to-day. ' ' 

Evidently Schuyler wished to be present at the capitulation, 
to share in the joy of it and to meet Burgoyne. At once he joined 
the army. He wore plain clothes, although still a major-general 
in the service. It had been arranged between Gates and Bur- 
goyne, at the request of the British General, that after the British 
troops had laid down their arms, Burgoyne would come to the 
American headquarters and be presented to the Commander-in- 

28 



Chief. Accordingly, on October 17, 1777, Burgoyne, mounted 
and in full dress, accompanied by his officers, crossed Fish Creek 
and rode to the place appointed, A group of American officers, 
Schuyler among them in civilian dress, stood watching this meet- 
ing, Gates by that time playing very well the part of the generous, 
magnanimous victor. 

In the official record of the surrender, it is stated the spot 
chosen for this ceremony by Major Kingston, one of Gates' offi- 
cers, was upon the ground *' where Mr. Schuyler's house stood." 

Here Gates received Burgoyne. 



29 



VII 

AFTER THE SURRENDER 

How differently the campaigns of the eighteenth century were 
conducted from those of our own day, is shown by the fact 
that it was not unusual for the families of the officers to ac- 
company them when on active service. Lady Harriet Ackland 
and other ladies of the British army were in camp, and, by the 
19th of August, two months before the battle of Saratoga, Baron 
Riedesel was joined by his charming wife and children who had 
come from Germany with recruits for his command. Her letters 
and journals, kept while in this country, give invaluable pictures 
of camp life, of American life as well. 

The sufferings of these ladies and children before the surren- 
der were piteous. They had passed six days in the cellar of a 
building to find shelter from the American cannonade. They 
had but little food and were told the terrible American marks- 
men picked off any one who approached the stream for water. 
They expected to find rough and vindictive conquerors. The 
Baroness writes after the capitulation : 

"In the passage through the American camp I observed with 
great satisfaction that no one cast at us scornful glances. On the 
contrary they all greeted me, even showing compassion on their 
countenances at seeing a mother with her children in such a situa- 
tion. 

"I confess that I feared to come into the American camp, as 
the thing was so entirely new to me. When I approached the 
tents, a noble-looking man came toward me, took the children 
out of the wagon, embraced and kissed them, and then, with tears 
in his eyes, helped me also to alight. 'You tremble,' said he to 
me, 'fear nothing.' 'No,' replied I, 'for you have been so kind 
and have been so tender toward my children that it has inspired 
me with courage. ' He then led me to the tent of General Gates. 

30 



"All the generals remained to dine with General Gates. The 
man who had received me so kindly came up and said to me, 'It 
may be embarrassing to you to dine with all these gentlemen; 
come now with your children into my tent, where I will give you, 
it is true, a frugal meal, but one that will be accompanied by the 
best of wishes. ' ' You are certainly, ' answered I, * a husband and 
a father, since you show me so much kindness.' I then learned 
that he was the American General Schuyler. ' ' 

Schuyler remained at Saratoga after the 17th to attend to his 
private affairs. But his kind heart had evidently been touched 
by the sufferings of these ladies and their children and by the 
sad position of Burgoyne and his officers. He sent Colonel 
Varick to Albany, to Mrs. Schuyler, to announce the speedy com- 
ing of guests from the vanquished army. He sent thither the 
Baroness Riedesel and her children in his own carriage. General 
Burgoyne, Riedesel, and other officers were escorted on horse- 
back, the latter by General Glover. Mrs. Schuyler received these 
guests with her accustomed cordiality. The Baroness writes: 
''They loaded us with kindness, and they behaved in the same 
manner towards General Burgoyne, though he had ordered their 
splendid establishment to be burned, and without any necessity it 
was said ; but all their actions proved that, in the sight of the mis- 
fortunes of others, they quickly forgot their own." 

The Marquis de Chastellux relates the following incident : 

"The British Commander," he says, "was well received by 
Mrs. Schuyler and lodged in the best apartment in the house. 
An excellent supper was served him in the evening, the honors of 
which were done with so much grace that he was affected even to 
tears, and said with a deep sigh, 'Indeed, this is doing too much 
for a man who has ravaged their lands and burned their dwell- 
ings.' The next morning he was reminded of his misfortune by 
an incident that would have amused any one else. His bed was 
prepared in a large room; but as he had a numerous suite, or 
family, several mattresses were spread on the floor for some 
officers to sleep near him. Schuyler 's second son, Philip, a little 
fellow about seven years old, very arch and forward, but very 
amiable, was running all the morning about the house. Opening 
the door of the room, he burst out a laughing on seeing all the 
English collected, and shut it after him exclaiming, ' You are all 

31 



my prisoners ! ' This innocent cruelty rendered them more mel- 
ancholy than before. ' ' 

Later Major Ackland, severely wounded, with his wife, Lady 
Harriet, passed through Albany and were guests at the Schuyler 
house. 

After the surrender, Schuyler was introduced to Burgoyne, who 
subsequently described the meeting in a speech before the House 
of Commons : * ' I expressed to General Schuyler my regret at the 
event which had happened, and the reasons which had occasioned 
it. He desired me to think no more of it, saying that the reason 
justified it, according to the rules of war. . . . 

* ' He did more : he sent his aide-de-camp to conduct me to Al- 
bany, in order, as he expressed it, to procure me better quarters 
than a stranger might be able to find. This gentleman conducted 
me to a very elegant house and, to my great surprise, presented 
me to Mrs. Schuyler and her family; and in General Schuyler's 
house I remained during my whole stay at Albany, with a table 
of more than twenty covers for me and my friends, and every 
other possible demonstration of hospitality." 

Burgoyne remained until October 26th under Schuyler's roof. 



32 



VIII 
THE HISTORIC STAIRCASE i 

The years 1780-1781, the war being then waged at the South, 
saw great unrest on the northern frontier, with incursions from 
Canada; while in the Mohawk Valley, Johnson, Butler, and 
Brandt were destroying settlements. The Tories were active, 
the Americans dispirited and tired of the long war. As Lossing 
justly observes, there were two sorts of Tories : the one royalists, 
men of high character who suffered for their opinions and were 
respected by the community ; the other ruffianly marauders ready 
to kill and pillage on either side. 

* * For some time the Tories in the neighborhood of Albany had 
been employed in capturing prominent citizens and carrying 
them off to Canada, for the purpose of ransom. Such an at- 
tempt was made upon Colonel Gansevoort; Clinton, then at 
Peekskill, had been repeatedly warned ; and now a bold project 
was conceived to carry off General Schuyler. John Walter 
Meyer, a bold partisan and colleague of the notorious Joe Bettys, 
was employed for the purpose. Accompanied by a gang of 
Tories, Canadians, and Indians, he repaired to the neighborhood 
of Albany, but, uncertain how well General Schuyler might be 
guarded, he lurked among the pine shrubbery in the vicinity 
eight or ten days. He seized a Dutch laborer, and learned from 
him the exact position of affairs at Schuyler 's house, after which 
he extorted an oath of secrecy from the man and let him go. The 
Dutchman seems to have made a mental reservation, for he im- 
mediately gave information of the fact to General Schuyler. A 
loyalist, who was the general's personal friend and cognizant of 
Meyer's design, also warned him. In consequence of the recent 
abductions, the general kept a guard of six men constantly on 
duty, three by day and three by night, and after these warnings 
they and his family were on the alert." 

1 Lossing 's ' ' Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution ' ' and ' ' Life and Times of 
Philip Schuyler." 

33 



Lossing gives the following account of the attempt made upon 
Schuyler in his Albany house, as it was told him by Catharine, 
Schuyler's youngest child (Mrs. Cochran, of Oswego, New York). 
She was not seventy years old when she related it, and her 
memory and faculties were unimpaired. 

At the close of a sultry day (in August, 1781) the general and 
his family were sitting in the front hall. The servants were dis- 
persed about the premises. The three guards, relieved from night 
duty, were asleep in a basement room, and the three on duty, 
oppressed by the heat, were lying upon the cool grass in the gar- 
den. A servant announced to the general that a stranger desired 
to speak to him at the back gate. The stranger 's errand was at 
once comprehended. The doors of the house were immediately 
shut and close barred. The family were hastily collected in an 
upper room and the general ran to his bed-chamber for his arms. 
From the window he saw the house surrounded by armed men. 
For the purpose of arousing the sentinels upon the grass, and 
perchance to alarm the town, he fired a pistol from the window. 
The assailants burst open the doors ; and at that moment Mrs. 
Schuyler perceived that in the confusion and alarm of the retreat 
from the hall her infant child, a few months old, had been left in 
the cradle on the floor below. She was flying to the rescue of her 
child, when the general interposed and prevented her. But her 
third daughter, Margaret,^ instantly rushed down the stairs, 
snatched the still sleeping infant from the cradle, and bore it off 
safely. One of the savages hurled a sharp tomahawk at her, 
but it effected no other harm than a slight injury to her dress, 
as it passed within a few inches of the infant's head and stuck in 
the stair railing. As she ascended the stairs she met Meyer, who 
supposing her to be a servant, exclaimed, *' Wench, wench, where 
is your master?" With great presence of mind she replied, 
* ' Gone to alarm the town. ' ' 

"The Tory's followers were then in the dining room plundering 
it of the plate and other valuables, and he called them together 
for consultation. At that moment the general threw up a win- 
dow, and, as if speaking to numbers, called out in a loud voice, 
'Come on, my brave fellows, surround the house and secure the 
villains, who are plundering.' The assailants made a precipitate 

1 Afterwards the wife of Stephen Van Rensselaer, the Patroon, of Albany. 

34 



retreat, carrying with tliem the three guards that were in the 
house and a large quantity of silver plate. They made their way 
to Balston by daybreak, where they took General Gordon a pris- 
oner from his bed, and with their booty returned to Canada. The 
bursting open- of the doors of General Schuyler's house had 
aroused the sleeping guards in the cellar, who rushed up to 
the back hall where they had left their arms, but they were gone. 
Mrs. Church, another daughter of General Schuyler, who was 
there at the time, without the slightest suspicion that they might 
be wanted, had caused the arms to be removed a short time before 
the attack, on account of apprehended injury to her little son 
whom she had found playing with them. The guards had no 
other weapon but their brawny fists, and these they-used manfully 
until overpowered. They were taken to Canada, and, when ex- 
changed, the General gave them each a farm in Saratoga County. 
Their names were John Tubbs, John Corlies, and John Ward. 
' *■ Mrs. Cochran was the infant rescued by her intrepid sistei . " ^ 

1 There is a tradition in the Church family that it was the Church boy, not the 
Schuyler infant, who was rescued, and it is so stated in some of the published 
accounts. 



35 



IX 

HAMILTON 

In October of 1777, shortly after the surrender of Burgoyne, 
Hamilton first crossed the threshold of the Schuyler house. 
Gates, having supplanted Schuyler, was now scheming to super- 
sede Washington. It was extremely difficult to induce Gates to 
detach regiments from his command and send them to Washing- 
ton's army. Hamilton had been entrusted with this delicate and 
diplomatic commission, and stopped on his way north to pay his 
respects to General Schuyler. That he then first saw Betsey 
Schuyler, is one of the traditions. They certainly met at Morris- 
town in the winter of 1779-80, and after a short and ardent court- 
ship, and with her father's hearty approval, she accepted his 
offer of marriage. The wedding took place in the drawing-room 
of the Schuyler house at Albany, in December, 1780. This wed- 
ding has appealed to the imagination of many writers both of 
history and of fiction, and it surely is admissible to quote the 
following : 

"Never had Betsey Schuyler's dark eyes shone so gloriously, 
or her cheeks flushed more bewitchingly, than when she stood be- 
side her brilliant young husband receiving the good wishes of her 
friends." . . . "The sweep of the staircase with its fine spin- 
dled balustrade, seemed made for the descent of so distinguished 
a groom and so charming a bride. There was a glance of pride 
and protection in Hamilton's fine face as he appeared on the 
half-way landing beside Elizabeth Schuyler. ' ' ^ 

Early in 1781, when he ceased to be a member of Washington's 
staff, Hamilton came to his father-in-law's house and remained 
some ten months there studying law and, as he writes, "rocking 
the cradle of his little boy. ' ' Again, after his resignation as Sec- 
retary of the Treasury, in 1795, he returned with his family to 

1 From ' ' The Parsonage between Two Manors, ' ' by Elizabeth L. Gebhard, 1910. 

36 



live with General Schuyler for months, until he settled himself in 
New York City. From that time until his death, he was con- 
stantly at the house. Schuyler not only loved him, but had recog- 
nized from the first his genius and exceptional ability. The two 
men were at one in their views upon national policies, especially 
as to the adoption of the Federal Constitution. After a visit at 
the Albany home, Hamilton, while sailing down the river in the 
packet sloop, wrote one of the numbers of the Federalist. At 
the Poughkeepsie Convention, his father-in-law assisted as a 
zealous partisan and, when the Constitution was finally adopted 
by the State of New York, the Albany house was illuminated, and 
a parade was formed, with Schuyler, the Van Rensselaers, Ganse- 
voort, Wendell, Lansing, Cuyler, and other prominent citizens in 
the procession. So high did party feeling run, that a mob of 
Albany anti-federalists assaulted the procession before it dis- 
banded, and were charged by Gansevoort's company of Light 
Horse. 

During the ravages of yellow fever in Philadelphia and New 
York, Schuyler writes repeatedly to his daughter begging her to 
come with her children and to persuade Hamilton to come. He 
has a father's solicitude for Hamilton, he reproaches him for 
not caring for his health. In 1793 they do come, having both had 
yellow fever in Philadelphia. They drive all the way, their little 
son James with them, then five years old, keeping to the west of 
the Hudson, because not allowed, owing to the quarantine, to 
cross the river to New York City. On approaching Albany they 
were required to halt and obtain permission of the authorities to 
go to the Schuyler house, "which was in the fields south of the 
city." 

When, in 1801, Hamilton built ''The Grange," then in the 
country just north of New York City, Schuyler furnished the 
timber from his Saratoga estate. The two men consult and 
plan together as to the building. Later, in 1802, Schuyler writes 
of some cedar posts he has ordered, half for himself, half for 
Hamilton, doubtless for fences; and he says: "I have been much 
engaged of late in [making] a new and I think a commodious 
and perhaps not an inelegant avenue, from the public road to my 
house." Again, in 1802, he writes to Hamilton: "I very much 
wish to see your improvements at Grange. Your task and my 

37 



dear Eliza's exertions, I am persuaded, will make it a desirable 
residence. Be assured I shall make it mine when I leave this for 
a visit to my children." 

A note to his daughter Eliza, from Albany, of April 23, 
1803, says: "Dear Child: This morning General Ten Broeck in- 
forms me that your horses, which went from hence, were drowned, 
and that you had lost paint, oil, etc. to a considerable amount. 
Supposing this account to have been truly stated to the General, 
I send you, by Toney, my wagon-horses of which I make you a 
present. If you cannot recover the paint, purchase no more, as I 
will have the house painted. Wlien an opportunity offers, send 
my saddle and bridle, which Toney will leave." 

To the end of his days, the old General averred that the only 
one of his daughters who had married with his consent was Mrs. 
Hamilton! In support of this declaration, in our own day, come 
pilgrims from different parts of the country to the old Albany 
house to determine from actual observation through tvJiich win- 
dow his or her respective ancestress leaped, to run off and marry 
the man of her choice. This epidemic of elopements was not at 
all confined to the Schuyler girls. Sheridan's comedy of "The 
Rivals," produced in London in 1775, pictures the dismay of the 
romantic heroine at being married in church, with all the for- 
malities. 

"There had I projected one of the most sentimental elope- 
ments," cries Lydia Languish, "so amiable a ladder of ropes, 
conscious moon, four horses, Scotch parson— Oh! I shall die of 
disappointment." . . . "To go simpering up to the altar," she 
continues, * ' and perhaps be cried three times, in a country church, 
and have an unmannerly fat clerk ask every butcher in the parish 
to join John Absolute to Lydia Languish, Spinster! Oh! that I 
should live to hear myself called Spinster !" 

The play gives an insight, as well, into the arbitrary part 
parental authority played in eighteenth-century marriages. 
General Schuyler and his wife possibly indulged their children 
when little, to find that when they became men and women, the 
young people had wills and preferences of their own. Mrs. 
Church, Mrs. Van Rensselaer, Mrs. Washington Morton, despite 
the wealth or exceptional social position of the men they wished 
to marry, were culprits in the paternal eyes! But Schuyler's 

38 



was a generous heart, and in due time all the culprits returned to 
him and their mother, and shared the parental affection for the 
rest of their lives. 

As the June sunshine plays upon the old house, and the horse- 
chestnuts blossom, in the mind's eye of the patriotic pilgrim how 
many scenes are evoked, how many stately figures move through 
those halls! 

It is summer, and eager young faces look from the east win- 
dows toward the river, watching for the packet sloop bringing 
cousins and friends. Or is it one of the General's own sloops, 
the "Mohawk" or the '* Saratoga" they descry in the distance, 
slowly beating up the river, deeply laden with supplies from New 
York? 

Youths and maidens stroll across the lawn or sit on the bank 
under the trees. Next comes a sound of voices and laughter, 
when a young party starts in post-chaise and phaetons and go 
clattering down the avenue bound for their picnic at Cohoes 
Falls.i 

In the large hall on the second story, through which the soft 
wind blows so refreshingly, sit Hamilton and his Betsey. He is 
always writing, but his foot rocks the cradle of his little boy, and 
when the child awakes, smiling and refreshed, he dances him on 
his knee. Little Kitty Schuyler, her hand in that of old Prince, 
has gone toward the orchard with a promise of one of those 
golden plums, while Masters Philip and Rensselaer profit by 
Prince's absence to play their pranks in the pantry. 

Or it is winter, and the snow-covered ground lies sparkling 
under the blue sky and sunshine of a typical Albany winter's 
day. Wood fires blaze in all the rooms — the jingle of sleigh-bells 
is heard— the French officers have come! In the drawing-room 
Mrs. Hamilton, who addresses the foreign guests in their own 
language, receives them with her mother. They dine at that long 
table with its graceful epergne, and its silver and glass, its 
branches of wax candles, its good cheer and good wine. In the 
evening de Chastellux and de Noailles are in the General's study, 
going over maps and campaigns, while the young ladies and the 
young aides amuse themselves in the blue drawing-room with its 

^ Among them, on one occasion, were Mrs. Huger and Miss Lynch, of South Carolina. 

39 



handsome furniture, and with Mamma in her stately evening 
dress sitting by. 

Or it is a quiet family evening, with no outsiders save Baron 
Steuben, their dear old Baron, with his gallantry and his fun. 
He stands with his back to the fire, round which they are gath- 
ered, exchanging repartees with Hamilton, while the General, 
who loves a joke, puts in a word, and laughs heartily. The young 
Cornelia sits in one of the deeply recessed windows absorbed in a 
romance, but Peggy, alongside of her Mamma, looks up from her 
embroidery and keeps an ear open to the talk of the elders, and 
of her dear tease of a brother-in-law. 

What an excitement spread through all the house, shared by 
Prince and Dinah and Sambo, the night when candles burned at 
every window, to celebrate the good news from Poughkeepsie, — 
the ratification of the Constitution by the State ! What an eager, 
admiring throng filled hall and parlors, and crowded the stair- 
case, to see Washington when, at the reception that summer 
evening after the Peace, he stood by his host and hostess and re- 
ceived those heartfelt and respectful salutations ! 



40 




Alexander Hamilton 




Mrs. Alexander Hamilton 
(Elizabeth Schuyler) 



WASHINGTON 

The friendly, social relations existing between General Wash- 
ington and Schuyler are emphasized by a naive remark of Mrs. 
Hamilton's in the account she gave Lossing of her first impres- 
sions of Mrs. Washington. 

*'He [young Ford, afterwards Judge Ford] brought to mama 
and me, from Mrs. Washington, an invitation to headquarters 
soon after our arrival at Morristown, in 1780. 'Had you ever 
seen Mrs. Washington before?' I inquired. 'Never,' she said, 
'never, she received us so kindly, kissing us both, for the Gen- 
eral and papa were very warm friends. ' ' ' 

In 1783, after the Peace, Washington and Clinton made a tour 
of the northern and western parts of the State of New York. On 
their way north they stopped at Albany (August 4, 1783), 
were presented with the freedom of the city and given a banquet 
at Hugh Denniston's tavern, and afterwards attended a brilliant 
reception at General Schuyler's house. On a second visit, the 
year following, Washington slept at the house. 

During Washington's residence in New York, as President, 
General and Mrs. Schuyler were members of the intimate circle 
he had about him, outside of the Cabinet officers and their wives 
and other officials. They dine with him and Mrs. Washington, 
and afterwards go to the Play. Again they dine, and subse- 
quently Washington notes in his journal, "called upon General 
Schuyler, " at a day when the Chief Executive permitted himself 
but few personal visits to friends. 

In 1798, cordial letters are interchanged respecting a visit to 
Mount Vernon, which General and Mrs. Schuyler were unable to 
make owing to Schuyler's ill health. Eef erring to this disap- 
pointment, Washington writes to Schuyler of the pleasure it 
would have given him and his wife to have them come ; he praises 

41 



Schuyler's grandson, young Philip Church, who had been air 
Mount Vernon, and concludes, ' ' let me pray you to be assured of 
my sincere esteem, regard and wishes of the most affectionate 
kind." 

Both were growing old — and there had been years of mutual 
regard and affection between them. From the time of Schuyler 's 
first meeting with Washington, in Philadelphia, in 1775, when 
they served together on a Military Committee, from the June morn- 
ing when they rode out of Philadelphia, journeying northward, 
to be met on the road by the messenger coming to Congress with 
the news of the Jjattle of Bunker Hill, from that time until his 
death, Schuyler's love and admiration for Washington never 
faltered. In return, Washington's friendship for Schuyler, his 
confidence in him, his understanding, his sympathy, are matters 
of history. In 1776, when both were sorely tried -by the insubor- 
dination in their respective commands, the two men interchange 
letters. Washington writes from Cambridge: *'It would be far 
beyond the compass of a letter for me to describe the situation 
of things here on my arrival. Perhaps you will only be able to 
judge of it from my assuring you that mine must be a portraiture 
at full length of what you have had in miniature. Confusion and 
discord reigned in every department. . . . However, we mend 
everyday, and I flatter myself that in a little time we shall work 
up this raw material into a good manufacture. ... I must rec- 
ommend to you what I endeavor to practice myself, patience and 
perseverance." 

Schuyler answers : '*! can conceive that my difficulties are only 
a faint semblance of yours. Yes, my General, I will strive to 
copy your bright example. ' ' 

At the Newburg headquarters, in 1783, when Washington in- 
dignantly crushed the seditious attempt to make him a military 
dictator and to involve his army in such a treasonable scheme, 
Schuyler writes to his son-in-law, Stephen Van Rensselaer: 
* ' Never through all the war did his Excellency achieve a greater 
victory than on this occasion, a victory over jealousy, just discon- 
tent, and great opportunities. The whole Assembly was in tears 
at the conclusion of his address. I rode with General Knox to his 
headquarters in absolute silence, because of the solemn impres- 
sion on our minds." 

42 



Through the dark days of Washington's second administra- 
tion, when calumny and abuse were heaped upon him, Schuyler, 
whether in or out of the Senate, was his staunch, warm-hearted 
supporter. "Miscreants" was the term he applied to the de- 
tractors of his beloved chief. 

The two men had much in common. Both were i^rominent in 
their respective provinces, inheriting position and wealth, and 
vv^ith these the conscientious sense of obligation to the commu- 
nity. Both were land-owners, deeply interested in the develop- 
ment of their estates, the one on the Potomac, the other on a 
tributary of the Hudson. Both had fought for the King in the Old 
French War, had associated with Royal Governors, noblemen and 
army officers, and yet, as members of their respective Provincial 
Assemblies, both had stood firm for American rights, and finally, 
when the crisis came, both men gave themselves to the American 
cause, risking all they possessed for Constitutional Liberty. 

In the history of our country, Washington and Lincoln tower 
above their contemporaries like mountain peaks, and stand for- 
ever touched with the sunset glow of the nation's reverence, with 
the morning light of its aspiration. Yet, inscribed on the Nation 's 
Roll of Honor are the names of lesser men, not as great, not as 
gifted, but who keep their hold upon the affection and regard of 
posterity, in that, despite shortcomings and mistakes, amidst 
trials and difficulties, through good and evil report, they stood 
firm and did indeed serve their country. 



43 



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